What makes the movie work is that the slasher genre hadn't been set in stone yet, and some choices that director Sean S. Cunningham makes in the film that work against type.
Comment
03/05/09
Friday the 13th - Part 1 (1980)
59 %
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 26
Rotten:18
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Despite repeated warnings to stay away, a group of fun-loving but none-too-bright teenagers set out to reopen the eerie Camp Crystal Lake, which closed 20 years earlier after a series of bizarre... [More]
Starring: Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon, Harry Crosby
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Get This Movie
Reviews for Friday the 13th - Part 1
a campfire boogeyman story designed to do little more than build tension and deliver a few well-timed shocks, which it does with precision and even a bit of artistry
02/14/09
How do you sum up a movie that's really quite awful yet helped define a filmmaking era?
02/13/09
Click to read the article
02/13/09
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/13/09
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/13/09
Click to read the article
02/13/09
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/12/09
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/12/09
Whether you want to credit or blame Friday the 13th for its role in influencing modern cineplex cinema is a matter of taste. [Blu-ray]
02/10/09
...a woefully bad slasher flick, complete with an inept cast (including Kevin Bacon in uncomfortably tight shorts); laborious pacing; and an interminable catfight climax.
02/10/09
Friday the 13th set the tone for the modern slasher flick. So you know which film to blame for all those lousy horror films.
02/07/09
You really have to wonder what exactly made the Friday the 13th series so wildly successful.
02/04/09
...perhaps more than any other film, it helped to popularize the slasher genre and codify the formula.
02/01/09
A skillful, if by-the-numbers, horror pic.
10/09/08
Click to read the article
09/11/08
Top CriticA classic Bacon
02/20/08
It may be one of the most famous, but it's certainly not an original on which others are based.
09/26/07
Unsophisticated by today's standards perhaps, but still contains plenty to satisfy the dedicated gore-hound.
09/26/07
Top CriticFor all its shoddiness, the film manages, just barely, to achieve its ignoble goals -- it delivers what it promises.
09/26/07
Top CriticLatest News for Friday the 13th - Part 1
March 05, 2008:
Platinum Dunes Planning Rosemary's Baby Remake
If you were upset when you heard that Platinum Dunes was planning to reboot the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street series...boy, do we have a story for you. More...
January 07, 2008:
New Line Planning New Nightmare on Elm Street?
We've had a rebooted Halloween, there's a new Friday the 13th on the horizon, and Screen Gems has devoted itself to exhuming every available '80s horror flick in its vaults.... More...
November 14, 2007:
Marcus Nispel to Direct Friday the 13th Reboot?
You can't keep a good man down. Nor, apparently, can you keep an undead, hockey mask-wearing lunatic off the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Marcus... More...
September 18, 2007:
Friday the 13th Remake Update
Like the hockey-masked serial killer at its core, the Friday the 13th franchise refuses to die -- and the series reboot announced by Michael Bay last year continues to lumber... More...
Related Forums for Friday the 13th - Part 1
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Point-Counterpoint: Bruno 
MSN's David Fear and Frank Paiva go head to head discussing the pros and cons of Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen.
The New Cult Canon
The AV Club's Scott Tobias takes a second look at David Lynch's cult classic, Lost Highway.
Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles
TIME takes us on a 25-year long journey into the superstar's career, giving us a look at his 10 best roles.
A Baywatch Comedy?
BuzzSugar reports on Paramount's plans to rebirth the iconic TV show as a comedy film.
IGN RSS Feeds